Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-02-05
THE ANGELS.
Written for the Tribune By 7. e. TINS
CHAPTER I.
THE ANGELS.

q W ACh KIN y oNA2 /
Four are alive now to tell the. story of
reckless, and I fear hayward acts of that
coterie of which nearly thirty were mem
bers. They had an organization of a so
cial nature, the name of which could be
found among the Neurological heroes OF
Homer's Iliad.
Wild young fellows they We're Liberal
after a most extravagant western style.
Magnanimous as to %conqured foes and
charitable to their debtors and those seek
ing to borrow. Loyal to n another in
trouble, sickness or poverty, and vet they
were a mean set in some things after all.
Thois Homerie name had been sunk
into an almost irreclaimable oblivion by
the fact that an old and almost paryalitic
resident had remarked:
"They couldn't pick out a common
English name for their club but had to go
to Greek and Latin for one. It's wonder
they hadn't called themselves the 'Ang-
les."'
The crippled resident aforesaid kept a
saloon, and moreover was well %patronized
by the members of the classically named
club, and yet he had such a horror of
everything classical, everything pertaining
to a high aesthetic culture, that he was
won't to express himself freely upon
whatever had the most remote connection
or carried the faintest suggestion of it to
his mind.
Though the Angels had a club-room,
and q neat one at that, handy in respect to
its opportunities of ingress and egress, in
viting as to its situation, furnished most
serviceably and comfortably, provided well
with current literature in the shape of pa
pers and magazines, governed by no very
strict regulations, yet the members were
willing to subscribe and pay for all this
very willingly though it was but seldom
occupied by them except on meeting
nights.
Their headquarters for all other pur-
poses was the saloon of the above men
toned paryletic gentleman whose sarcastic
tongue had deprived them of the club
title they had SO classically chosen. 1t was
a sore spot to one or two whose school
DAYS had brought them an Introduction to
Messrs. Virgil and Homer who had en-
joyed the friendship of Ovid and had been
on intimate terms with Caesar and Keno
phone-and yet there was for them NO
help for it. The tide was against them
and per force they drifted not very reluct-
antly into the back room of The Coroner.
The Angels were a miscellaneous lot
drawn together from all parts of the union
descended from all sorts of nationalities,
yet strictly American in their views and
patriotism. Tacitly agreeing to disagree
on politics and religion if upon the latter
they really held any beliefs. Originally
they had beee reared in that end of the
city; but in a young and growing metrop-
oils, the growth of a town into a mighty
western emporium had scattered neigh
bors and separated families. So the ma
iority of them in spite of the fact of hav-
ing parents and relations in the city, lived
apart from them and chung with venerat-
ing tenacity to the purlieus Of the old
fourth ward.
They were young, though their ages
ranged from twenty-one to nearly forty
Everyone seemed to excsll in some char
acteristic from brightness to stupidity
from excessive energy to downright lazi
ness. In one respect they appeared to be
just alike and in perfect unison-their at
tachment to that old one story brick saloor
and the red bourbon behind its bar.
Whatever of personal aims or ambition;
they may have possessed, there was one
aim in common, and that was to induce
all corners to buy wet goods from behin6
that mahogany bar. 1t was a mania will
them, and when no outsider presented
himself they praeticed upon each othe,
their seductive acts to that end. The,
were not bummers, nor impecunious loaf
ers. Among them they had plenty o
money to spend and spent it too, but treat
ing all hands was their hobby and tn
schemes and pretexts by which they &C
complished this desire were varied, ant
occasionally developed a sublime genius
There was a sort of free masonery anon.
them, empowered by no character, define
by no rules, and still a nod or a wink fron
one to another was a token of deep an,
subtle significance, quickly understoo
and as promptly put into execution.
In politics they were a power who's
worth ard might was fully recognized, S